What Did You Think Of The Stories In These Comic Books?

[Julian Gift]

Has anyone read any of the following comic books?:

Adventure Comics no. 4 http://ifanboy.com/comics/dc_comics/adventure_comics/4

Dark X-Men no. 1 http://marvel.com/catalog/DARK_X-MEN.2009.1

The Brave & The Bold no. 29 http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/comics/?cm=13387

If so, what did you think of them?

[ClarkKent_DC]

I'm a few days behind in getting to the comic shop, but I'm looking forward to The Brave & The Bold no. 29. I've been getting that title throughout, and I'm liking J. Michael Straczynski's work on the book. I found it interesting that in the previous issue, featuring The Flash and the Blackhawks, he concocted a story in which The Flash couldn't run and the Blackhawks couldn't fly.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I liked Adventure # 4 a lot more than I expected to. Superboy Prime isn't a character I like much at all, but the story (and the character himself) acknowledging the fact that everyone hates him really won me over for the issue. And I'm really liking these short spotlights on various groups of Legion characters. I'm intrigued by the characters behind Mysa's throne. (More here.)

As for Brave & Bold 29, I think it was JMS's best effort on the title to date. A really nice little done-in-one.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

And Julian! We're glad you're here!

[Ana Canino-Fluit (Anacoqui- mod)]

I think that should a welcome back...Julian used to post on the previous board...but I think it has been a few years...

Rob Staeger said:

And Julian! We're glad you're here!

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

I don't read Brave and the Bold so don't have a comment on that one. Adventure Comics #4 and Dark X-Men #1 both have top notch writers but they're writing about characters I don't like and seem to be just plain unlikeable. I shant be buying Adventure Comics #5 but I will be buying Dark X-Men #2.

[Eric L. Sofer]

Adventure Comics #4 - Earth-Prime is becoming just another super powered Earth, but it's interesting to see what they want to do with Superboy Prime (S-P.) However, having finished the Legion Crisis, I have trouble understanding what it is that S-P did or is doing that is causing his parents to freak out that cannot be handled by them, or by the authorities if necessary. He no longer has powers, as far as I can discern - so he's nothing more than a trouble teenager (or adult? During the time that DC couldn't use the word "Superboy", he was referred to as Superman - but the same thing held in the Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon and that was DEFINITELY Superboy.)

Personally, I would rather like to see S-P come face to face with Ultraa, and see how THAT carries out. Don't tell me he's no longer on Earth-Prime... when nothing has stayed the same in the past fifteen years, that's an EASY one to fix.

In addition, I think I'd like to see Adventure Comics change their format... let's say four or five months of Superboy leads and Legion backups, a couple or three months of full issue S&LSH stories (DROOL!) and then a few months of Legion leads and Superboy backups. I mean, Adventure IS the home for both Superboy and the Legion... I think they both deserve some highlight.

Dark X-Men - Dark X-Men? DARK X-MEN? My God, the Marvel Universe needs a Crisis on Infinite Earth so badly it hurts.

Brave and the Bold #29: I do not like Straczynski's (sic?) work on B&B, and the reason is pretty straight forward. He doesn't write a team up story. He write a story about a character, and the "guest stars" are nothing more than supporting characters. I know that a lot of team ups are written that way... that doesn't mean I like them. In this issue, it's a "Brother Power - The Geek" story, and if DC wants to run a Showcase type story to see if the character still has any viable, they should just rebirth Showcase. The big Showcase discussion is, "How can we sell a series of various characters when those characters can't hold their own series?" The answer is that there are some characters now who, without Showcase, have gotten a series of their own (I'm thinking Blue Beetle and Power Girl immediately), so these characters obviously CAN carry their own weight - and Showcase would be a good venue for some new talent to test the DC waters.

Anyhow, Brave and the Bold. My other HUGE bitch was the previous issue, B&B #28 - Flash and the Blackhawks (yes, Jack, I'm going off the board.) Major stinkers - the deux ex machina of Flash breaking his leg - and by the way, don't Flashes have the ability to heal at super speed? The story theme of "As the Flash, I cannot kill, even in war - but Barry Allen can" being one of the all-time great cop outs from a bad setup. Super heroes don't kill (at least, they shouldn't) and putting one in a situation where he has to isn't good drama - it's BAD STORYTELLING. Sure, it would be no tremendous challenge to put Batman into a situation where he has to kill the Joker - but what's the point? It violates everything the genre represents.

And the biggest foul up of all - it was Brave and the Bold #28. Anyone remember the first one, and how it pretty much rewrote the face of modern comics? No? Ask anyone with half a brain at Marvel Comics, because the smart ones KNOW how much Marvel owes to B&B 28. I cannot believe that there was NO tribute story, and not even a NOD to what that book meant. It reminds me of Gerry Conway's decision to leave Hawkman out of an issue of All-Star Comics in its 70s revival because he wanted to break the string of appearances of Hawkman in All-Star. Yeah, that was a great idea...

I remain,
Sincerely,
Eric L. Sofer
The Silver Age Fogey
x<]:o){

[Julian Gift]

Thank you all for the comments and the welcome. Both are appreciated. I am interested in reading Adevnture comics # 4 because of the "Breaking The Fourth Wall" concept that I so enjoy in fictional stories. Dark X-Men seems to feature a mystery that its characters have to solve. Why are persons all voicing the same phrase "I am an X-Man"?. I like the approach that Batman took to the Geek in the preview pages that I read. Did anyone read the The Brave & The Bold issue where he teamed up with Dial H For Hero?

[ClarkKent_DC]

Julian Gift said:

Did anyone read the The Brave & The Bold issue where he teamed up with Dial H For Hero?

Yes, I did. I'm not overly familiar with the "Dial H for Hero" series, having read only a few such stories over the years, but I thought it was okay, save for one bit: the business where Batman read this new hero the riot act and tells him he can operate in Gotham City only at his sufferance. One of these days, he's going to do that to the wrong guy and somebody's going to make him eat his teeth.

[Julian Gift]

I agree with what you have said Clark about Batman Thing is would such an event be written in comic books? Saaay. Did he not come up against Lobo and was beaten or at least having a very difficult time of it? I remember a comic book cover that had Wonder Woman with her foot on his head whilst he was on the floor.

[Figserello]

.... And Tommy Monaghan once threw up on his bat-boots.

That showed him.

[The Baron]

I liked the Batman/Brother Power team-up. I'd never actually read a story with the Geek in it, so it was interesting to see the character.

[Julian Gift]

The Dark Knight is good but he is not invincible. A robot knocked him across a room. The Red Tornado was there to catch him.

Is anyone reading the Batman & Robon comic book by Grant Morrison. If so. What are your opinions on the series?